Outrage Overload

A Connors Institute podcast

Outrage 81 – When a Film Changes the Filmmaker – Nick Beaulieu

Aired Feb 4, 2026

My Omaha is a deeply personal documentary set against the backdrop of Omaha’s long-standing racial divides and a growing racial justice movement.

In this episode of Outrage Overload, filmmaker Nick Beaulieu joins us to discuss his journey documenting activism in his hometown—and confronting something even closer to home: his relationship with his terminally ill father, Randy, a staunch pro-Trump conservative.

As Nick navigates family conflict, political and racial discord, and the pressure to “pick a side,” the film becomes less about winning arguments and more about staying in relationship. Guided in part by community activist Leo Louis II, Nick reflects on how lessons from racial justice organizing shaped the way he tried to rebuild trust with his father during the final chapter of his life.

This conversation explores what it means to live in a post-trust world—where facts alone rarely change minds—and asks a quieter, harder question: What does it take to see the full humanity of someone you deeply disagree with?

Why This Episode Matters

Political division is often discussed in abstract terms—red versus blue, left versus right. My Omaha brings those divides down to a human scale, showing how they live inside families, cities, and relationships we can’t simply walk away from.

Rather than offering solutions or prescriptions, this episode invites listeners to sit with complexity, grief, and empathy—and to consider whether connection, not persuasion, is where healing actually begins.

Nick Beaulieu is a documentary filmmaker currently based in New York, working in advertising and film. His documentary My Omaha explores family, political polarization, and racial justice through an intimate portrait of his hometown and his relationship with his father. Nick continues to seek theatrical bookings and broader distribution for the film.